1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to piling for docks, slips, piers, platforms, houses, commercial buildings, barges, or any other water structure residing in, under, into, and/or on a body of water; on, in, under, and/or into a floor (of floor bed) of a body of water; and/or on, in, under, and/or into land proximate to a body of water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piling is used to provide support or protection for wharves, piers, docks, floats, etc. and is typically constructed of multiple piles. The piles are typically poles which are driven into the floor of a body of water to support a pier, float, dock, wharf, etc. Additionally, the piles act as anchors to which watercraft, such as a boat, may be tied.
The conventional pile involves a single pole constructed of wood, metal, or concrete. Installing each pile usually involves employing expensive underwater drilling equipment which is external to the piling. The drilling equipment must be rented or purchased and transported to the site for installation of the piles, and a drilling crew must be employed at the site to install the piles. After the drilling crew places the drilling equipment in the body of water, the drilling equipment is used to drill holes in the floor of the body of water at the locations in which the piles are to be placed. The drilling equipment is then removed, and the piling is inserted into the drilled-out locations in the floor of the body of water. Usually, concrete is poured around the piling at each location to secure the piles relative to the water with the intention of preventing the piles from moving with the ebb and flow of the body of water.
The typical method described above of installing the piling using external underwater drilling equipment and securing the piling by pouring concrete is undesirable for several reasons. First, specialized, expensive (to rent or purchase) equipment and labor are needed to drill the holes and to pour the concrete at the piles. Second, installing the piling using the current method requires at least two underwater trips to complete the installation, one or more trips to drill the hole with the underwater drilling equipment and one or more trips to insert and install the piling in the drilled-out hole, these multiple trips requiring much time, effort, and expense. Additionally, to install the piling at the exact location of the previously drilled-out hole in the floor of the body of water is challenging and adds extra time and expense to the dock installation. Third, the prior installation method, specifically the permanence of the concrete as well as the trouble and expense required to remove and/or reinstall the piling, limits the portability of the piling and the dock if one desires to move the dock to another location or to temporarily or permanently remove the dock and piling from the water. Again, the removal of the dock from the water (and re-installation at another location, if desired) requires expensive external equipment and labor. All in all, installation of a dock using the current installation method and current dock piling apparatus can easily run upwards of $50,000.
In addition to the method of their installation, the typically utilized piles are problematic because of their inability to give way enough to external forces without breaking. One of the more troublesome external forces affecting the dock and the piling is caused by storms, e.g., hurricanes and tropical storms which plague waterways, tornadoes, thunderstorms. These storms often bring strong or turbulent winds, disturbed or turbulent water, and/or rising water or wind levels which exert force on the dock and piling, often damaging, fracturing, and/or destroying the piling and/or the dock supported thereby. The typical one-piece piles are easily broken and damaged by storms and other weather conditions due to their inability to ebb and flow with the water and the wind. Damage and breakage of the dock piling or dock requires costly repair of the dock and/or piling or full replacement of the dock and/or piling, again possibly costing upwards of $50,000.
There is therefore a need for piling and a piling apparatus which are more easily, efficiently, and inexpensively installed in the body of water, on, in, under, or into a floor (or floor bed) of a body of water, and/or on, in, under, or into land near a body of water than the prior art piling.
There is a further need for piling and a piling apparatus which are more portable than the piling of the prior art.
There is yet a further need for piling and a piling apparatus which are more easily, efficiently, and inexpensively removed from the body of water, from the floor of the body of water, and/or from the land near the body of water than the prior art piling.
There is also a need for a method of installing piling and a piling apparatus which is more efficiently, inexpensively, and easily accomplished than current methods of installing piling.
There is a further need for a method of removing piling and a piling apparatus which is more efficiently, inexpensively, and easily accomplished than current methods of removing piling.
Additionally, there is a need for piling and a piling apparatus which are able to better withstand external forces applied thereto, for example forces such as wind, turbulent water, and/or rising water due to a storm.